Our recent blog on the firefly show in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park got several of our trout fishing friends wondering if trout actually do eat lightening bugs, and if there are any lightening bug trout flies. Well, the answer is "Yes", and "Kindof, Sortof." Trout do eat fireflies, and more generally, beetles, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of people trying to imitate them. Therefore, in the spirit of our Perfect Fly brand flies' imitating specific insects, I've developed my own version of fireflies.
The body is made of yellow Neer Hair (which is generally used as a winging material for streamers, but can also be used successfully as dubbing, due to its superior water shedding), black chenille, and red floss. The legs (which I only tied four of them on the prototype) and antennae were made from stripped hackle feathers. The wings were made from turkey feathers (goose feathers would also work well), cemented to the top of the body.